It`s a real shame Capt. William Bligh couldn`t hang around this place a bit longer, say another couple of hundred years or so. But he was in a hurry and had to decline the locals` invitation to dinner.
For reasons of historical accuracy, two things must be pointed out:
William Bligh was not the mad dog captain portrayed in the movies and books. And when the dinner invitation was made, it was for Bligh and his men to be dinner, not come to dinner.
See, Bligh passed by just a bit north of this city in 1789 after Fletcher Christian and his fellow miscreants mutinied on the Bounty and put Bligh and 18 loyal officers and seamen into a longboat in Tonga, a bit to the east of Fiji.
In those days, these splendid resort islands had a different reputation among the men and boys who made up His Majesty`s Royal Navy-they called this place the Cannibal Islands.
A large chuckle, that, because Fiji now ranks as probably the friendliest and possibly the best vacation area in the South Pacific. Fijians still eat well, you should know, but having succumbed to the wiles of Christian missionaries long ago, they choose to nosh on spiny sea lobster and other goodies rather than the odd haunch of British sailor.
Fiji is an archipelago containing about 300 islands between 15 and 22 degrees south of the equator and just west of the international date line. And looking around, you`d think every one of those 300 islands has at least one resort on it. Great sandy beaches. Great diving. Great sailing. Great food. Great weather. Great people. It does have a few problems, however.
Mostly what makes Fiji are the Fijians.
An epic voyage
As noted, they once were among the most feared people in the Pacific, inhabiting islands wise sailors and missionaries avoided like the plague. The only reason Bligh came here at all was desperation. He and his men did not realize it at the time, but their 41-day, 3,800-mile journey in one of the Bounty`s open longboats was an epic achievement, proving to anybody who wanted to notice that Bligh was one hell of a sailor.
He was heading for Timor, at that time about the closest European settlement in his neck of the Pacific, and the fastest way to Timor meant going right through the Cannibal Islands.
Off the northwest coast of one of Fiji`s two biggest islands (Viti Levu, site of the major cities of Suva and Nadi) is a stretch of ocean called Bligh Water, which marks part of the area Bligh and his party rowed and sailed through in May 1789.
Near the Yasawa Island group northwest of Viti Levu, a party of hungry Fijians in a war canoe took out after Bligh, who escaped only because a storm came up and allowed his boat to sail away. The Yasawas today have some of the finest resorts in the country.
The Fijians in those days were black Melanesians, part of the huge expansion of Southeast Asian peoples that spread across the Pacific starting several thousand years ago. But today, Fiji is a dualistic society, mostly Melanesian and East Indian.
When white Europeans finally established successful colonies in Fiji in the 19th Century, cannibalism was abandoned, bloody inter-tribal wars stopped and by 1874, the islands had become a British crown colony.
Sugar is big time
The chief crop in those days, as today, was sugar, and beginning in the 1880s, thousands of Indian villagers were hired-or shanghaied-and sent to Fiji to work in the sugar cane fields as indentured servants. Today, Fiji Indians outnumber Fiji Melanesians, but the economic power is in the hands of the minority blacks. Indians account for about 48 percent of the total 741,000 population and black Fijians constitute about 46 percent.
Under Fijian law, Indians have never been allowed to own land, so 60 percent of the Indians in Fiji farm on leased land.
The political-racial problems seem to be confined to major urban areas, which won`t bother tourists much because most of them immediately head for one of the small island groups to suck up some of the best Pacific relaxation money and an airplane ticket can buy.
You hit a lot of beaches and a lot of resorts in this business, and Fiji right now is at the top of the list. Good prices, high-quality accommodations and what has always been the best service in the Pacific.
Take Mana Island as an example.
Right off, you gotta like the place because it`s part of the Mamanuca Island group. Love the way that rolls off the tongue. Mama. Nooka. Yes.
A tuneful welcome
It sits about 20 miles from Viti Levu by air-conditioned ferry, and all you do on the way out is drool at the blue water (you have never, ever seen flying fish in herds the size they have in Fiji), at the craggy volcanic islands rising from the sea, at the sun and the pure air.
Beach? No, make that beaches. The island is about 200 yards wide in the middle, and both sides have long, white sand beaches. The island is basically surrounded by a reef, so the water off the beaches is part of a large lagoon. On the south side, there`s a swimming area marked off by floats, and about 15 yards offshore, in maybe 20 feet of water, are a bunch of coral heads, each surrounded by thousands of tropical fish.
Tired of all that sloth? Wander into the bar and have an icy Fiji Bitter, made by the same Australian company that makes Foster`s. Or walk down to the beach snack shop and have an ice cream cone. Or go deep-sea fishing or scuba diving on the reef.
Everything about the Mana Island resort is first-class. It`s not in the super deluxe category of some places you find in Hawaii`s Kauai or the Big Island, but it`s clean and comfortable, the food is fine, the beaches are so good they`re edible and the water temperature is perfecto.
There`s even a regular swimming pool if you don`t like salt water. Two bars, two restaurants (one has great Japanese food), tennis courts, a gift shop, guest laundry, medical clinic, live entertainment, baby sitting.
Prices are low
And it`s about $120 a night double, which is about as good as Paradise gets. A meal plan (breakfast and dinner) runs about $70 a couple a day, and includes round trip transportation from the main island. This is as close to outright theft as a greedy tourist can get.
There`s one island (also in the Mamanucas) where the big deal of the day is a crab race. Beachcomber Island, it`s called, and rooms go for as low as $350 a person a week. Or there`s the Yasawa Island Lodge (where Bligh almost became broiled Brit), which slips you a bill for $1,000 a night double, which includes all meals.
Whatever you pay, the sand is still sand and the air is still South Pacific pure. No cars, no noise, no stress. Mana Island has only one air conditioner (in the gift shop, so cold you could hang a side of beef), but it gets cool enough at night that the ceiling fan is plenty. And being Fiji, things work, which is not true throughout the Pacific. Nobody`s in much of a hurry around these islands, but what needs to get done gets done and after a day or two you frankly don`t care.
I`ll put it to you this way: There are only a few places around where you get an almost overwhelming urge to come back, and Fiji is one of those special places.
Final note: Poor old Bligh. You should probably be told that later in life, he was made governor of Australia. He tried to crack down on the rampant crime and general drunkenness he ran into on his arrival and the locals, being Australians, would have none of it. You guessed it: They mutinied and threw his old body in jail for two years until somebody came down from London to rescue him.
He shoulda gone back to Fiji.
Matter of fact, everybody shoulda.
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For more information, contact the Fiji Visitors Bureau, Suite 220, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90045; 800-932-3454 or 310-568-1616.
